queen

Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry could be coming to a small screen near you. It's been reported that she's attached to star in a drama project currently being shopped around pay cable networks like HBO and Showtime.

According to Deadline.com, DreamWorks TV has sent out a spec for the project -- entitled 'Higher Learning' -- to several pay cable networks, and is hoping for a quick decision. Details are sketchy right now, but the TV drama would see Berry starring as a college professor.

The script was written by 30-year industry veteran Lee Rose, who was queen of TV movies in their heyday during the 1990s. Since then Rose has worked as a director and producer on series such as 'Weeds,' 'Related,' 'Haven' and 'Greek.'

Throughout his time on 'American Idol' (Wed., 8PM ET on FOX) this season, Casey Abrams was always memorable and always a little ... unique. With his quirky sense of humor and no-holds-barred attitude on stage, there was really only one performer that could match him in personality and stage presence.

A lot of people don't realize that Jack Black first came into the public eye as one half of musical duo Tenacious D. The pair tackled Queen's 'Fat Bottomed Girls,' and it was as silly and fun as you'd expect.

We don't know if Abrams has any acting ability, but if he can bring the same kind of charisma and charm he brought to the stage every week, we could see him making fun spot appearances in comedy films. The performance also made us wish we could get a new Tenacious D project before too long.

Well, it's that time already. It's the final countdown. After a mere two weeks, we've reached the finale of 'The Sing-Off' (Mon., 8PM ET on NBC). Heading into the finals, only four groups remained. All of them were battling it out for $100,000 and a recording contract. But who would make the cut?

First to be eliminated was Talk of the Town, led by 66-year-old Jerry Lawson, who has been singing a cappella for over forty years. The Backbeats -- the only group in the finals with any female singers -- were the next to go home.

This set up an all-male, all-Southern battle for grand prize. Two groups remained: Committed, from Huntsville, Alabama, and Street Corner Symphony, from Nashville, Tennessee.

It's time for the first set of semi-finals on 'America's Got Talent' (Tue., 9PM ET on NBC). Which acts will succeed? Who will fail? And who can manage to capture the hearts of the judges?

[Spoiler alert.]

Based on tonight's performances, one man seems like a cinch to make to the next round. And that man is ... Prince Poppycock. The fairly bizarre singer -- who is best described as sort of a "glam rock opera diva" (or something), was able to pull off a fairly incredible rendition of the song 'Bohemian Rhapsody.'

I'm am an unabashed fan of the Muppets and it doesn't matter than I'm 29. It might matter to mature single ladies and gym meatheads who can beat me to a bloody pulp with their eyelids, but that's beside the point.

I don't care. They were funny when I was a growing toddler still learning how to say my ABCs and they are still funny now that I'm an adult who cannot say my ABCs backwards convincingly enough to prove my sobriety. So just imagine my joy when this video surfaced of the fuzzy funnies doing their rendition of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody".

The Muppets Studio has posted a new video on YouTube of all your favorite Muppet characters performing Queen's rock classic 'Bohemian Rhapsody.'

The Muppets' version manages to be even more majestic, surreal and shamelessly excessive than the original Queen video -- and even the famous scene from 'Wayne's World' that served as an introduction to the song for a whole new generation.

Check it out after the jump, and set aside some time for repeat viewings; it actually gets better and more brilliant as it goes along, ending with a rather unexpected and amusing punchline from Kermit himself.

(S01E08) Five bands sit in the green room of The Next Great American Band. Only four bands will play. One band, despite all of the arranging, rehearsing, worrying, and hoping, won't take the stage. That band will just leave the building, sort of like a lesser Elvis. In a few cases, a drastically way lesser Elvis.

Hmmm ... I wonder what Elvis would think of the Clark Brothers? I don't want to know what he'd think of the Light of Doom, though. Tonight the bands played a Queen song and then an original. Now, I would like to see Light of Doom try Bohemian Rhapsody, wouldn't you?

(S03E08) It's becoming quite apparent that this is going to be a tough race. The competition is just entering the second week and there really isn't anyone that sticks out as being noticeably below the rest of the group. Depending on the styles drawn each week, every team in the competition has the potential to have the best performance of the night. It should make some difficult decisions for both the voters and the judges.

This week Nigel and Mary were joined at the judges table by Mia Michaels for what turned out to be quite an impressive group of performances. She told Cat that she was disappointed to see Ricky leave and that America got it wrong, putting the best three male dancers in the bottom three. I didn't agree with Ricky being let go last week, but I think she's going a little far there.

Orlando (Jerri's Filipino friend):You should run for Homecoming queen, Jerri.

Jerri:What? Are you joking? I don't think I'm what boys consider a "traditional beauty."

Orlando:In my country you'd be a real queen.

Jerri:Yeah, well, that's because your country is ruled by monkeys.

Orlando:Jerri, that's an ugly thing to say.

Jerri:Jeez, why are you people so sensitive about your resemblance to monkeys? They're adorable!

This episode begins with a game of dodgeball and Jerri having to sit out the game because of uneven teams. Also, it seems her teammates would rather have a slow girl with two broken arms play with them rather than Jerri. Despite not actually playing, Jerri manages to get hit with the ball, prompting Yasmine, a popular girl, to remark that Jerri is probably used to balls smacking against her face.

Both TMZ.com and Ryan Seacrest are reporting (warning: audio starts right away) that a very famous band will make Chris Daughtry an offer tonight to join their band as lead singer. The offer will be made on Extra.

TMZ says that the band is Fuel, but Seacrest (on his morning radio show, where he interviewed Daughtry today) hints that it might be another band, one that has something to do with Idol and has major hits and is a "household name."

Long Q and A with Kellie Pickler over at
Entertainment Weekly's web site. I like how she understands that she really gave two bad performances in a row
and was lucky to last as long as she did, but this quote sticks out to me, as she answers a question about not knowing
what a minx or calamari are, or how to pronounce the word salmon:

"To be honest, that kind of hurt my
feelings. I don't think people realize I went from a small town in North Carolina to Los Angeles, so of course there
are going to be things I don't know."

What, they don't have salmon in North Carolina restaurants? They
don't use the words minx and calamari there? They don't use the phrase "on paper" (something Simon said to
her) in the Carolinas?

I'm not shocked at Ace getting the boot. His number has been up since he couldn't top "Father
Figure." (Ugh, that was like the first week, right? And did you notice that Queen was not in his "Bad
Day" montage? Ha ha ha!) But Chris in the bottom 3?!?!?! I suppose that America is to blame. We let
him down. That's what Paula is going to tell us next Tuesday, I'm sure. But, I guess we are to blame. I didn't
vote for Chris last night. I felt sorry for Ace, so I voted for him. It was a sympathy vote that I wish I could take
back. I figured that Chris would slip into the bottom 3 at least once (before triumphantly winning this whole
thing), but not until a later date. I know this sounds silly, and only confirms my complete absorption into
AI addiction, but I felt a little bit nauseas when I saw Chris standing there next to Ace.
The mere thought of Chris going home prematurely made me want to throw up. So, that
confirms it -- I'm officially a member of Team Chris. I'm pledging my allegiance right now.

I don't think I've ever anticipated an American
Idol theme night more than this. Like many of you, I typically hate the theme nights. It feels like someone
stole the song selection book at a karaoke bar, and left only one page for drunken patrons to choose from. But I was
excited for tonight --simply because I thought it would suck. I thought it would be a disastrous mess of awkward and
uncomfortable song choices and bad Freddie Mercury impressions. And, I was absolutely convinced that Taylor Hicks would
wear a fake moustache (a semi-gray fake moustache, of course). But tonight was pretty good. It was entertaining to say
the least.

Don't get me wrong. At times, it sucked. But more trying to drink a McDonald's thick shake
through a straw suck, than Dyson vacuum suck. There was something very triumphantly sucky about tonight and I loved it.

Lost, Weird Al Yankovich and Queen, "Three great tastes that taste great
threegether". This is the greatest thing I've seen in a long long time, and any fan of Lost will gleam at
least a little humor from this. This is kind of along the lines of the Jib-Jab political cartoons from the past couple
of years. I'm not sure how to describe it beyond that too much. Just watch it. For me, the best part of the entire
short was Grimlock's (from the Transformers) cameo. So head on over to Weird Al's site and check out this short. Trust me, you'll love it.